Starting a business is filled with emotional ups-and-downs. Oftentimes you're investing your confidence and your hard-earned money into a risky decision that might not pan out. When you're an entrepreneur, the fear of failure is ever-present. If you want to succeed, you have two choices: (1) fall victim to worry and self-doubt or (2) get better at dealing with inevitable setbacks and make friends with the unknown.

Entrepreneur Gary Nealon chose option two. Today Gary is the founder of Nealon Solutions, a consulting firm that helps eCommerce businesses grow. Previously he built multiple multimillion-dollar businesses, including his company RTA Cabinet Store, which offers consumers the ability to purchase ready-to-assemble kitchen cabinets online. But Gary's road to success was paved with detours, including a bankruptcy that forced him to start over. Now he's distilled his hard-won wisdom into a new book, Notes to a Young Entrepreneur, which focuses on providing aspiring entrepreneurs with advice on everything from raising capital to finding mentors, and even adjusting your mindset for success.

There's no doubt that young adults are shifting the way work is done. Over 60% of millennials have thought about starting a business and 72% of high schoolers say they want to be their own boss one day. Without the right mental and emotional toolkit, the next generation of entrepreneurs won't thrive.

In this interview, Gary discusses how he rebounded from failure, how to find a great mentor, and what to do if you think it's too late to start a business (spoiler alert: don't give up on your daydream!).

Credit: Gary NealonCredit: Gary Nealon

Melody Wilding: You're a self-taught, serial entrepreneur. Tell us a little more about your journey.

Gary Nealon: I didn't know anything about entrepreneurship when I started, but I knew that I didn't want to keep working for other people. My first attempt at being an entrepreneur was an epic failure. I was working as a Director of Sales of a logistics company and started researching companies to buy. I didn't know how I was going to buy one, or any experience running one, but I spent two years researching niches.

I was able to find some people to invest and I liquidated everything that I had saved up to that point. Unfortunately with the economic downturn and unforeseen problems in the company, I ended up filing bankruptcy on it after about a year. It was a huge blow emotionally and mentally, but I was determined to find a way to own my own business.

I had to start from scratch and realized just how little I knew about running a business, so had to educate myself. I went back into the workforce and started a cabinet business out of my house. I used the last $5,000 I had and all the money that I was earning from my job to build up the business until it was making enough money to cover my expenses. That let me switch to working on it full time.

Wilding: Why write a book about entrepreneurship for teens?

Nealon: After speaking at high schools for several years and meeting young entrepreneurs at various conferences, I noticed that there was a huge disparity between what was being taught in schools and the skills needed to excel at running a business. For kids that don't have an entrepreneur in their family, they don't really have anyone that can give them advice on how to do it. This is the book that I wish someone had given me when I was in high school. I hope it helps future entrepreneurs.

Wilding: There's also a social mission behind this book. Tell us about it.

Nealon: I'm not an author by trade, so the book is my way of paying it forward and hopefully having a positive impact on teens and the future of entrepreneurship. I figured we could have twice the impact if we not only helped aspiring young entrepreneurs, but also give the proceeds to help young women in third world countries receive literacy training so that one day they can potentially impact their community. That's why I’m excited to say that each book purchased will provide one year of e-education for a child in India through B1G1, Business for Good.

Wilding: You talk a lot about the importance of mentorship. How has mentorship helped you in your career? How can a young entrepreneur find a great mentor?

Nealon: Mentorship is hugely important and helps accelerate your growth. The right mentor will have already gone through what you are going through and will help you avoid the same mistakes. They won't do it for you or give you step by step instructions, but they will help guide you.

I didn't realize the importance of having mentors until a couple of years into my business journey. I started joining groups of other successful entrepreneurs who had already been through what I was going through. The key to finding really good mentors (for me) involved looking for people that were several years ahead of where I was and offering to help them in some way that added value to their company. That might be offering your time, money, or connections, but finding a great mentor starts with first helping them in some form.

Wilding: You say that "success and failure aren't black and white". What do you mean by that, and how can someone fail successfully?

With internet-based businesses, this is so much easier now then it ever has been. You can test a new idea for a couple hundred dollars with Facebook or Google ads and have a pretty good idea if it is going to work or not. If you compare that back to when I started or earlier, you would have had to invest a lot more money into product development or more conventional forms of advertising, such as TV or print and you might not know for sure if it was going to succeed.

Wilding: What's your best advice to someone who feels it's too late to follow their dream of starting a business?

Nealon: I don't think it is ever too late to start a business. The older you get, the more responsibilities you may have, such as a family, bills or mortgage. Start small and minimize the risk. For someone that does have a family and is concerned about not having a reliable income source, I would say that they should start the business on the side and work at it during off hours. You will have to sacrifice some of your free time, but it will allow you to grow the business to the point where it covers your salary and allows you to work on it full time. Not all businesses are overnight successes, so if you put in the time when you can, and keep at it, you can be successful.

Melody Wilding is a coach, speaker, and writer who helps ambitious high-achievers mentally and emotionally thrive at work. She also teaches Human Behavior at Hunter College in New York City and delivered a popular TEDx talk on turning self-doubt into an advantage. Learn more...